Stolen Promises
by emjac
Summary: Dave's stepdaughter continues to need guidance from her parents.
1. Chapter 1

Kara turned and shut the front door behind her, taking her time to rotate the knob so as not to elicit a sound. The sizzling coming from the kitchen told her which direction to avoid, and she made her way up the stairs to her room as quickly and as soundlessly as possible.

In the kitchen, Dave tossed the garlic, which he had been effortlessly chopping, into the oil in the pan, and glanced towards the ceiling. Did she think she could sneak around in his house and he wouldn't know she was there? He was slightly amused by her disregard for his alert senses, but also concerned. If she was sneaking around, it was because she was trying to hide something, and that could not be good. The case that had just closed had been a long and difficult one, and, being his first night home all week, he was anxious to spend it relaxing with his wife and stepdaughter. Investigating misdeeds committed in his own house was not an entertaining prospect. A quick look at the clock and he realized that his wife would be home from work soon. He contemplated running up the stairs and catching Kara in whatever act she was performing, but that wasn't his style. He would wait. Be patient and let the situation unfold, as it was bound to do.

"Hey," Kara said from the doorway, trying to control her breathing and appear natural. "Welcome home." She watched him as he cooked, but when he turned her way, she averted her eyes.

"It's always good to be home," he continued sauteeing as she walked over and he leaned slightly towards her so she could kiss him on the cheek before moving to the table to toss the purse that she so cleverly remembered to bring back downstairs with her.

"Do you want to help?" Dave asked.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"How about you start on a salad?"

"Ok," she was grateful for the job so that she could keep busy without having to look in his direction. One look into her eyes and he was bound to see right through her.

"How was your week?" he asked.

"Fine. The usual. School, studying, mom. Is she coming home soon?" she asked attempting to work the conversation away from herself.

"Yep. Soon I hope. She was finishing up some paperwork when I left."

"How was your case?"

"It's over. That's all that matters." He never gave her details about a case, but it didn't stopped her from asking. She was intrigued by his line of work, and considered it for her own future.

"Are you ok?" he said. "You seem distracted." He wanted her to look at him.

She gave a quick glimpse in his direction, then went back to chopping her tomatoes. She made her best effort to act naturally. "Everything is great."

The glance was enough to affirm his suspicion. She was definitely up to something. "You and your mom doing ok?"

He was referring to the tension that frequently crept into her relationship with her mother as they both came to terms with the after effects of the alcoholism. "Never better." She inwardly cringed as that sounded phony even to her.

"Mmm, hmmm," was his only reply and she knew she was busted.

Erin burst through the door at that moment and rushed into her husband's arms. The tension in the air was temporarily lifted.

"Kara's up to something," Dave said as his wife curled up next to him in bed later that night. Their evening had been the peaceful one he hoped for, with the slight exception of the niggling feeling about Kara. He kept a close eye on her during dinner but, on the few times that their eyes did meet, she swiftly looked away. Studying called to her afterwards and she disappeared to her room for the night.

"Do you think so? Everything was fine while you were gone. She even saw the therapist this week."

"I'm pretty sure. She was acting strangely before you got home."

"Well, did you call her on it?"

He turned towards her, "You want me to interrogate our daughter?"

"Tell you what, I'll talk to her tomorrow. She and I are supposed to go shopping. It will be the perfect time for us to chat. But I think you're overreacting. She seems ok to me."

"Let's talk about something else now, shall we?" he said as his hands made their way over her body.

"What would you like to talk -" was as far as she got before he covered her mouth with his. It was good to be home.

Kara took several deep breaths to calm herself from the top of the stairs. The typical sounds of morning rushing were coming from the kitchen where both of her parents would be readying for their day. Usually Kara joined them for breakfast and she and her mother exchanged a quick rundown of the day so everyone knew where everyone else was going to be, and when they were all expected home. Kara's plan was to escape from the kitchen as quickly as possible without drawing any attention. Armed with her strategy, she descended the staircase.

"Good morning, sweetheart," her mother crossed the expanse of the kitchen to plant a kiss on her temple.

"Morning," she said while making a show of hurriedly jamming books into her backpack. "I'm running late."

Looking at her watch, Erin said, "I thought your first Thursday class wasn't until ten."

"I have to meet with some people to plan a project," she gathered her things and started towards the door.

"Wait," Erin moved towards her, "we're going shopping on my lunch break today. Where do you want to meet me?"

"Oh, mom, I can't do that today. I have too much to do."

"We've been planning this all week. What changed?"

"It's this group project I have. I think everyone is going to want to meet this afternoon."

"Well, when will you be home?"

"Mom, I really don't know."

Erin's disappointment was evident in her voice, "Keep your phone on and text me your plans as soon as you know them, please." It sounded more like an order than a request, but Kara knew better than to argue. She was still intent on a exiting the house.

"No problem, Mom," she said as she moved to the door.

"Kara," Dave had been standing against the counter, drinking coffee and witnessing this conversation. She heard the insistent tone of his voice which always demanded her attention, whether she wanted to give it or not, and turned to see his glare. He held her attention for a beat and then added, "Have a good day."

"Yeah," she said quietly, turning back to the door, "you too." She adored him, but he could scare the hell out of her sometimes.

Erin watched her daughter leave and turned back to look at her smug husband.

"Told you," he smirked at her

She narrowed her eyes on him, feigning anger, "Yes, you told me."

He grabbed her arm and kissed her, which always worked to rid her anger, fake or otherwise. "Don't worry, Mama Bear, we will figure her out. We always do."


	2. Chapter 2

The text came through on her phone as she was walking out of her final class.

 _When will you be home? We have to talk._

She exhaled quickly and muttered under her breath as she tried to juggle her books in one hand and the phone in another. She didn't know what her mother wanted to talk to her about, but it couldn't be good.

 _Going to the library now._

She thought that was a perfect response, albeit a dishonest one. Her mother disagreed.

 _When will you be home?_

Kara ignored the text for the moment as she tried to hurry across campus to her car. That was apparently not part of her mother's plan and her phone let out a shrill ring. "Hello," Kara answered it, her voice devoid of any emotion, as she moved towards a bench and dropped her bags.

"Kara, what is going on?" Erin impatience was clear.

"Nothing, mom, I just got out of class and am trying to get to the library. What's the problem?"

"The problem is I told you to text me your plans and you didn't and now I'm texting you questions that are going unanswered."

Kara pulled the phone away from her face to double check the texts for the unanswered questions before responding, "Mom, there is one unanswered question. I'm not sure when I will be home. Don't you think you're being a bit ridiculous?"

"No, I don't! I know you are not a child, but I ask one thing of you: I need to know when you will be home everyday. That's really not too much to ask."

"Well, maybe I will stay at the dorms tonight. There is probably a party -:

"No! Not tonight. You need to come home."

"Mom!" Kara's volume was now drawing the attention of passersby, but she didn't care. Her mother was being unreasonable.

"Kara, lower your voice! This conversation is over. Be home by 8." And she disconnected the call.

David leaned back in his chair and made every attempt to conceal the smile on his lips. His wife paced back and forth across his office floor in front of him. He could count on one hand the number of times she had entered this room for something other than business, always insistent that they keep work and home separate.

"David, so help me God, if I look at you and you're laughing at me I'll . . ." she offered no threat as she did not have one.

"Relax, Erin," he said, rising from his seat and moving to comfort her. "She is fine. You talked to her. She is in no danger, and I'm sure she will be home tonight."

"What is she up to? Things have been going so well lately. What is going on?"

"Well, you're not getting that answer until she comes home."

"It's not like she'll tell me anyway," she continued to pace, ignoring Dave's attempts to hold her.

"Alright, let's look at this rationally. She's twenty years old. It's four o'clock in the afternoon, and she is at the library."

Her pacing stopped, "Good point." She took one long steadying breath to calm her careening nerves and then continued, "Your reports are late. Get back to work."

He wasn't going to let her get away with all that so, since the blinds were closed and she had locked the door when she entered, he grabbed her and kissed her hard. "Yes, Ma'am," he said upon releasing her, and she left the room.

The sun was starting to set on the horizon. Kara was sitting in her car at the office supply store parking lot watching it disappear and contemplating her next move. The anxiety had hit again and she was doing everything in her power to control it. The therapist her mother had convinced her to see taught her some strategies and they worked some of the time. Now, however, Kara knew what was causing the panic and none of the strategies were going to work.

It began weeks ago, innocently enough, when she had been in a local store and simply forgot to pay for one of her purchases. No one noticed. No one said anything. No one even cared. So she took the item home and forgot about it. Until the next time she was out shopping. At first, it didn't happen until she was at the register. She would pretend to forget to pay for one item, and out the store she went. Over the weeks, things had gotten worse. She would accidentally drop things, usually cosmetics, into her purse as she was shopping. Doing it so that, should anyone see and question her, she could apologize and say she has no idea how it got there. But no one ever inquired as to what she was doing.

It was never about the money. In fact she always made sure that she had enough money in her purse to cover the purchases in case she was found out. The euphoric feeling she received as she walked out of the store was the payoff. Her anxiety would slip away. Nothing could beat that feeling and she sought it out. She could convince herself that this act was not a big deal. It didn't even feel like a crime, except that it kept getting worse.

While the highs kept getting higher, the lows were coming quicker and getting much lower. Usually by the time she made her way back to the car, the anxiety came crashing back and feelings of guilt would overwhelm her. She was so ashamed of committing a crime, but, at the same time, it wasn't a big deal. She wasn't stealing hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise. Maybe that was part of her shame, too. It all seemed so stupid to her, and she would tell herself that it wouldn't happen again. But the compulsion would always strike as soon as she entered a store. And the cycle would repeat.

One pack of index cards was all she needed to purchase for her group project which was meeting again tomorrow. She psyched herself up to go into the store, find the index cards, pay, and leave. Except, after last night's increased quantity of stolen merchandise, and the close call with Dave, she promised herself that she wouldn't even step into a store for at least a week. Decision finally made, Kara threw the car into drive and sped out of the lot. Maybe her best friend, Rachel would have some index cards.

David did not know what woke him up, but the hair on the back of his neck was standing up and his heart rate quickened. Something was not right. The clock read 2:13am. Erin was sleeping next to him, and Kara should be home in bed. She had texted Erin at ten to say she was at Rachel's and would be home before midnight. Erin had been furious that her directive went ignored, but Dave convinced her to go to bed and deal with it in the morning. Listening intently, he detected banging sounds coming from downstairs. He rose, took his service weapon from where he kept it on the nightstand, and crept out of the room. As he passed by Kara's door, he saw that her bed looked slept in, but she was not there. Presuming she was the cause of the noises, he continued down the stairs.

He could see the door of his study was slightly ajar and the overhead light was off, but there was a glow coming from the room. His desk light was on. His weapon was still in his hand as he had not returned to his room, but there was likely going to be no need for it.

His hand slowly edged the door open wide enough for him to enter and he stood there taking in the scene in front of him. He watched for a few moments, undetected, as his step daughter pulled the middle drawer from his desk with such a force that the drawer and its contents crashed to the floor. Shocked at what he was witnessing, his voice boomed louder than anticipated, "Kara!"

Having received no indication that there was someone else present, she jumped and inhaled audibly at his voice, "Dave, oh, my God, you scared me."

"I scared you?" his voice still had not lowered as he hurried to the desk to see what she was doing. "I could have shot you! What the hell are you doing?"

"It's not what it looks like," Kara said, and she struggled to gather up all of the various supplies which had fallen..

"It damn well better not be what it looks like because it looks like you are trying to get to my case files."

"I'm not. Please stop yelling. I don't want my mother to hear."

He agreed to slightly lowering his voice as he did want to get to the bottom of this situation before waking his wife, but his anger ran deep and could not be easily hidden. When she continued at her task he grabbed her arm, "Stop. Go sit over there." He pointed to a chair in the corner and released her. Not seeing any other option, Kara obeyed.

"Kara," now his voice was softer as he gathered up the mess and replaced the drawer, "what is going on?"

"I'm not doing anything wrong! I'm not looking for your case files! All of your other drawers were locked anyway, so leave it alone."

He turned on her and she saw the anger had not left him, "You're in my desk, in my office, and it is almost three o'clock in the morning, so for the last time, what the hell is going on?"


	3. Chapter 3

"I was just trying to find some index cards for my project." It sounded absurd to her but she didn't know what else to say.

"Sweetheart, it's the middle of the night and you are rifling through my desk looking for index cards?" He was taking in the sight of her as she sat pulled into herself in the corner club chair. Her hair was messy, she was wearing pajamas, and she looked scared to death. He considered that she might have been sleep walking, but the bags under her eyes betrayed her. He dragged a chair close to her and sat. Leaning forward and placing a hand on her knee, he continued, "It's time for you to tell me what's going on." Tears started down her cheeks and she nodded her head, but no words formed.

"Do you remember, not so long ago, you and I had a talk and a couple of things were decided upon. First, we said there was to be absolutely no drinking until you are twenty-one."

"I'm not drinking." Her voice was insistent and she looked straight at him while saying it.

"Good. We also said that there would be no more lies," he waited a beat to see if she would deny that as well. When she remained silent, her eyes cast downward, he continued, "We agreed that if there was something going on that you couldn't talk to your mother about, you would come and talk to me and the two of us would work together to solve the problem. Do you remember that conversation?"

She nodded. This had happened about a month ago, after the awful incident at and following the party. It clicked for her then that her current problem started soon after those events. Probably they were connected. The side of her mouth twitched at this realization and the motion was not lost on Dave.

"Well, I think that time has come." With that, he sat back in his chair and waited. He hadn't wanted to use interrogation tactics, but discerned no other option.

"I needed to go to the store today to buy index cards for my project but I got scared."

"Why did you get scared going to a store?"

"Because I keep. . . taking things."

"You keep taking things? What does that mean?" His eyes narrowed on her, but her gaze stayed down. "You're stealing?"

"No - I just sometimes. . . take things."

"Do you pay for these things that you take?"

"No."

"Then you're stealing." He paused to let that sink in. When she offered no counter, he continued, "Why have you been doing this?"

"I don't know."

"I need a better answer than that, Kara."

He waited her out and, after a few moments, was rewarded with a response, "I don't mean for it to happen. It just happens."

"I'm not buying that, Kara. Tell me about the first time it happened."

Her eyes finally met his and she said, "It was an accident. I forgot to give something to the cashier and I ended up leaving the store with it."

"Keep talking."

"It kind of felt good, exciting, like I got away with something. And then the next time I went to the store I tried to see if I could get away with it again."

He leaned forward in his chair again and asked, "And what were you going to do if you got caught?"

"I would've said it was an accident."

"That wouldn't have worked. They would have arrested you," he continued, "when did this first start?"

"Maybe a few weeks ago?"

"After the shooting?"

"Yes, but that's probably a coincidence, right?" She was starting to wonder about that herself and couldn't figure out if the connection was real or imagined.

"Probably not. Ok, so what has happened since this started?"

Her eyes went back to her lap, "It just seems to keep getting worse. I tell myself before I go into a store that I won't do it, but then I start to feel this tension building as I go through the store. I need to release it and wonder if I can do it one more time. To feel that excitement when I walk out." The excitement from simply talking about it brought her eyes to Dave's once again.

"How long does that feeling last for?"

"Lately, not long. If I'm lucky, until I get to the car." Tears started down her face. "Then it feels so bad. And I feel so stupid."

"It is, Kara. This is really stupid."

"So I guess I'm a kleptomaniac," she said wiping her face with the tissue he handed her.

"No. Kleptomaniacs don't actually know what they're doing while they're doing it. You are very well aware of what you are doing and why you are doing it."

"So what am I?"

"You're a thief."

His words produced the shock he meant them to and she looked at him earnestly and said, "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You're going to stop."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You will. You're done. This can never happen again. Do you understand me?"

"No! How do I stop?"

"Kara, when you get caught, and you will get caught, you are going to be mortified. You are going to be handcuffed and detained in the store for an indefinite amount of time. The police will come and take you to the station where you will be processed. If you feel stupid now, you will feel a hundred times worse then. Everyone will know what you've done. You will have a record. Any job in law enforcement will be out the window. No one wants to hire a thief."

"Stop calling me that!" He was scaring her.

"I will not stop calling you that. I'm not going to let you sugar coat this, kiddo, and I'm not going to let you rationalize it. Everywhere you go you are on camera. Look at me!" his voice rose as her eyes had started to drift. When they were on him again he continued, "Everywhere you go you are on camera. People are watching what you do, they track that information, and they will eventually stop you. They will have all of their footage to make sure that the charges they press will stick." He was laying it on a bit thick, but needed to get through to her. If he was going to get her to stop, it was going to have to be by unnerving her. "You will not do this again!" He sat back again, watched her, and waited.

She eyed the tissue in her hand that her fingers were worrying, seemingly without her control. The conversation she was having with her stepfather was unreal. How had she sunk so low to having to be lectured at her age about shoplifting? She felt like a five year old, curled up on the chair, playing with a tissue.

Crumpling the remnants of the tissue into her palm, she stood from the chair and made her way past Dave. She half expected him to stop her, but he moved aside and let her go. She walked to the opposite side of the room and remained silent for several moments. Finally turning on him, with a look of determination set on her face, she asked, "So what do I do now? These feelings aren't going to just go away because you tell them to."

"No, they won't. But if you replay in your head what I've said to you when you do have them, they should calm down some. You also need to see your therapist again as soon as possible. She will give you some strategies." He wasn't saying that one thing she desperately did not want to hear, so she said it for him.

"We can't tell my mother."

Rising from his seat, and covering half the distance to her, he said, "We are telling your mother. I will not keep this from her."

She successfully willed the fresh round of tears away, but pointed her finger at him in spite of herself, "You said I could come to you if I couldn't go to her."

"Keep your voice down."

"You said I could trust you."

"You know you can trust me, but I never said I would lie for you."

She huffed and turned away from him.

"Sweetheart,"

"Don't call me that!"

He paused a moment to figure out why she was so angry. "Sweetheart," he said insistently, "you are not angry at me. You are angry at yourself and turning it on me."

A small chuckle escaped her lips, "Don't try you profiling thing on me."

In two steps, Dave covered the space between them and, grabbing her arm, turned her around. "Ok, knock it off now! You know there is no way I would ever keep a secret like this from you mother so stop pretending otherwise. We will tell her together. I said I will help you and I will. I am not abandoning you here." He saw and felt the fight leave her, likely due to the late hour and the intensity of their conversation. For the first time since he entered his study, he wrapped his arms around her and held her. "In the morning, sweetheart. We will take care of everything in the morning."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you for all of the reviews you have given this story. Some incidents referred to occurred in my previous story, Mending Fences. I have decided, for the time being, to treat Kara as an only child. While I mentioned her siblings in the last story, they will not be present here. I am bring them back in the future, and I may also include Joy. She would certainly knock Kara off her game! Enjoy!**

Somewhere in the early morning hours, David decided to take it upon himself to inform his wife of their child's misdeeds. He figured it would make it easier on Kara to not have to witness her mother's initial reaction which, as he expected, was one of horror, fear, and disappointment. The outrage quickly followed but that first one he would let Erin experience privately, and maybe protect Kara from it as well. Her mother's well-being always caused Kara worry and, as upset as he was with her at this moment, she didn't need that compounding the situation. He also wanted some time alone with his wife to discuss the matter and make sure that they were both on the same page before encountering Kara again. He did not regret the things he said to her only hours earlier, but also realized that there was more at play here then a young adult testing her boundaries and behaving badly. He was leaning against the dresser giving Erin plenty of room as she finished readying herself for the day and venting her feelings about this latest predicament

"This is crazy! Why would she be shoplifting? She has money."

"I don't think it's about the money, Erin."

"I didn't raise her to steal," her volume was increasing as she tried in vain to locate an earring. "She knows better than this. What the hell was she thinking? How many times has this happened?"

"Several is a good guess."

"Unbelievable! I'm going to shake her!"

"Well, I played bad cop last night, so you're going to have to be the good one."

"Oh, I don't think I can do that. Did you at least shake her for me?" She stopped pacing and looked at him, and that was all it took for her resolve to break.

David crossed the room and caught her as her face crumbled. "No, baby, I did not shake your daughter." He held her for a few moments as she sobbed, and didn't let go until she pulled back.

"Why is she doing this?" They both moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I think she is using this as a means of escaping her anxiety. She said it started soon after the incident following the party."

That caused Erin to turn intently to her husband. "Are you saying this has to do with the PTSD? Dr. Gorham said she had that."

"Stealing is not a symptom of PTSD, but she could be using it as a way to alleviate the symptoms that are, like the anxiety. Can you call Dr. Gorham today? She needs to continue with her therapy. That is really her best bet."

"I'll call her when I get to work and see how soon she can get Kara in. But Kara's resisting the therapy. Dr. Gorham is trying to get her to relive the trauma, and she refuses."

"OK, well we can add that to the list of things we need to discuss. Reliving the trauma is not fun, but it is the quickest way for her to start to feel better. This is going to be a long road for all of us."

"We should probably get to it then." Erin said rising from the bed. "I have to meet with the director at ten and I need to see Kara first."

David rose and kissed her on the lips before following her down the stairs.

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Kara had taken her cup of coffee to the patio and watched the sun rise. Sleep would not come to her after David had led her back to bed, so she had risen early and tried to physically distance herself from her parents as much as possible without actually leaving the house. The patio was a good spot. Most of the morning she spent praying that David would fill her mother in on the situation before they came downstairs. It wasn't her mother's wrath she was worried about. She could handle that, she had plenty of times. She also knew that she deserved it. Her mother's initial reaction was what she wanted to avoid. The disappointment and the shame. Those were the things she couldn't bear to see in her mother's eyes. Dave usually had the ability to calm her mother when no one else could, so Kara was hopeful that this was the route he would take.

The rest of her early morning hours were spent thinking about what Dave had said. There were so many things she knew he wanted her to be contemplating, but one comment stuck in her mind and she couldn't let go of it. _I am not abandoning you._ She kept hearing his voice saying those words and she was having difficulty processing them. He wouldn't abandon her. Like everyone else had. Everyone else. Her mother had abandoned her to the alcohol years ago and she lived with that for a long time before the rehab. Her mother would be standing right in front of her, talking to her, but the alcohol had her attention, not Kara. She had been so alone during that time. She had dealt with the feelings of helplessness and loneliness, all while trying to cover up for her mother's drinking. Since her mother's return from rehab, and eventual marriage to Dave, Kara tried not to think about those times, but she was having a hard time separating herself from them this morning.

Then there was her father. She hadn't spoken to him in months. Granted, she refused his calls after making a couple of attempts of her own around the time of the party. But what kind of father allowed his daughter to not take his calls? He should be trying harder to contact her. If he really cared, he would. If he really loved her, if he hadn't abandoned her, he would. She tried to imagine what would happen if she ever refused Dave's calls and she was quite sure he would hunt her down.

But why? Why was this man, who was not her parent vowing never to abandon her? He was head over heels in love with her mother, but didn't need to win any favors with her. Their love was solid, Kara was sure. So why was he sticking by her and why, exactly should she be trusting him?

Kara heard movement coming from the kitchen and schooled her features a bit. Her mother walked in first and, to Kara's surprise, pulled her up and into an embrace. She relaxed in her mother's arms but failed at controlling her emotions.

Erin kissed her daughter and ran her hand down the side of her face, and Kara said, "I'm so sorry, mom."

"I know, honey, but I am really disappointed. We have an awful lot to deal with here. You can never do this again."

"I know. Dave made that pretty clear," she said, wiping the tears that she was so tired of shedding.

"He said he was hard on you." Kara shrugged one shoulder so Erin whispered, "He loves you."

Yeah, I know."

Erin pulled away completely and Dave walked out onto the patio to join them. He kissed Kara dramatically on each cheek in an effort to convey to her that his anger had dissipated and asked her how she was doing. Kara shrugged at him as well and when he asked if she had slept, she shook her head. He removed a new package of index cards from his pocket and slipped them into her hand. She looked up at him sheepishly and muttered a thanks. "Next time, ask."

"I will call Dr. Gorham as soon as I get into work today and see how quickly she can get you in. Be prepared to go whenever she has availability." Kara nodded. "Come by my office at lunch time and we can talk a little then. Maybe I'll be able to make an early day of it. What do you have to do today?"

"I have to meet with this group at ten and then have one class at eleven. I will come by after that."

"I'll be waiting. Kara," she waited for her child to look at her, "it's going to be ok. We'll figure everything out."


	5. Chapter 5

The exhaustion would not leave her body and she dragged through the morning. The group project for her History class was simple. She could easily sit back and let other members of the group take charge. It wasn't her usual style, but there were some assertive members there who had no problem taking up the slack. Her criminology class was another story. After her brush with death at the hands of a jacked up gun man, she dreaded going and listening to theories and tactics. This was compounded by the fact that she didn't know if she had the fortitude to perform the tasks that her parents did on a daily basis. Granted, her mother held an administrative position and had not experienced nearly in the field as much as David had, but if she was planning on going down this career path, she would definitely need to toughen up.

Kara left her class and met with Rachel. She knew it was risky to show up late at her mother's office, but she was so conflicted. Some force pulled her away from her parents and she could not grasp the cause of it. Her mother had been quite nice to her this morning, when she would have been justified in tearing her apart, so after a half hour with Rachel she started towards her parents' workplace.

Erin was away from her desk when Kara arrived, but her secretary told her to go in and wait. Kara threw herself on the couch and was asleep immediately.

Several minutes later, Erin came through the door and rushed to her daughter's side. "Honey, wake up."

"What's wrong?" Kara asked without opening her eyes.

"The team has a case. They're leaving town. Come say goodbye to David."

Her heart skipped a beat _I am not abandoning you_. Yeah, right. She kept her eyes closed hoping her mother would sense no derision. "I'm too tired. Just tell him I said good-bye."

"Please, Kara. He wants to see you."

Kara ignored the comment and worked hard to erase her mind and let sleep return.

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"Hey," he said as he entered the door, "you didn't think I was going to let you get away with not saying good-bye, did you?"

Kara's thoughts immediately went to her own father who was clearly letting her get away with more than that, and she turned her head away from Dave as she sat up on the couch. David pushed her aside and joined her, not caring whether or not she wanted him to. "Everything alright, sweetheart?" When all he received in return was a nod, he prodded further, "Are you still angry with me about last night?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just really tired."

It was hard to argue with that excuse as he knew she had not slept well in a while. "Ok. Hopefully we will solve this case soon and I will be home in a couple of days. Are you going to be ok until then?"

"Does it matter if I'm not?" She wanted to keep her tone neutral, but failed.

"Of course it does. If you need me to stay, I'll stay," he said.

Her eyes were quickly drawn to his, "Really?"

"Yes, sweetheart. I'll go tell Agent Hotchner right now that I won't be going," and he stood to leave.

"No, wait," Kara started after him, "It's ok. I'll be ok until you get back."

"You're sure?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Ok. " he walked back towards her and placed both hands on her face. "I'll call tonight when I get settled. Be good for your mother. Remember what we talked about. And I will see you soon." He kissed her on both cheeks and left the room. She fell back onto the couch and cried.

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Erin spent the rest of the afternoon working in her office as she kept watch over her slumbering daughter. While she knew a conversation was inevitable, she decided that Kara's sleep was more important. She was also trying to delay a heartfelt talk. A long time had passed since having those with her child was a comfortable experience. She yearned for simpler times when she could dry her daughter's eyes, add a hug, and everything would be better. Kara was at a difficult threshold in her life, between adolescence and adulthood, and neither of them knew how to navigate.

When Erin was finished working for the evening, they decided to go up to the cabin for the weekend. Actually, it was Erin's idea. She was worried about her ability to keep her daughter under her thumb for a few days since Dr. Gorham couldn't see her until Monday. Kara simply went along with her mother's decision. They picked up Chinese food and headed for the woods.

Kara tried to close her eyes in the car, more in an attempt for avoid talking to her mother than in an attempt to sleep. But the length of that afternoon's nap prevented her orbs from even shutting.

"Maybe we should talk about what's been going on with you," Erin began.

"I kind of already covered that with Dave. Plus, we wouldn't want you to get upset and cause an accident or anything."

"Cute. But talking to David does not count as talking to me."

"Why? Aren't you two the same person now?" She was hoping that her joking would at least postpone their heart to heart.

"Do you suddenly have a problem with David that you're harboring?"

"No, Mom, I'm just kidding. I don't really want to talk about things right now."

"Well, that reasoning is getting tiring. We're stuck in this car for another hour now so it seems like a good time to talk."

"I guess it's safe here. You can't really hit me while you're driving, now can you?"

"Kara! Why would you say something like that? I have never hit you!" Erin said.

"Mmmmmmm . . ." Kara said.

"Seriously, Kara! I have never hit you!"

"I know, mom."

"Why are you implying that I have?"

"I think it's called deflecting."

While confused by these comments, Erin decided to let it go. It was time for her to take control of this conversation and lead it down the path she wanted. "Why have you been stealing?"

"It started by accident and then I just kept doing it. It didn't seem bad."

"Really? Stealing didn't seem bad? I know I raised you better than that."

"You did, mom. I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I felt like I wasn't thinking. It almost became an out of body experience."

"Well, that's not going to hold up in a court of law. But, I swear, Kara, you cause me more worry now than you ever did as a teenager. What is that about?"

Kara could not control herself any longer. Aggression she had been holding onto for such a long time finally burst out of her. "Are you kidding me? I cause you more worry now? Maybe that's because when I was a kid you were too drunk to even think about me, much less worry about me. Or maybe I didn't dare to make any mistakes as a teenager because I was too afraid that nobody would be there to catch me if I fell." Erin's knuckles whitened from the tightness with which she was gripping the steering wheel. Tears escaped her eyes, and her throat was sore. Everything her daughter was saying was true, but they were facets of her life that she tried to ignore. She focused on keeping the car on the narrow country road as she listened to the volume increase of Kara's proclamation. "Or maybe I was too busy worrying about you to do anything that would cause anyone to worry about me. Maybe I was too busy cleaning up after you and covering for you to even dare act like a normal teenager. Did you ever think about that?"

Erin was now sobbing and maneuvered the car to the side of the road. Throwing it into park, she dropped her face to her hands and cried. She was, however, aware that Kara rushed out of the car, slamming the door behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

David was in the jet flying from the original crime scene location to a new one. He had yet to call home and took this quiet opportunity to do so. When there was no answer at the house, he tried Erin's cell. It rang so many times that he was waiting for the voicemail to connect when he finally heard, "Strauss."

"Oh, Erin, hey. I didn't think you were going to pick up."

"David," her voice was breathy and he knew she was crying.

"Erin, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Kara," was all she could get out as she tried to get her emotions under control.

"Kara? Is she alright?" The tone of his voice drew the attention of his team and all eyes on the plane turned towards him.

He tried to remain patient as Erin got a hold of herself, but the anxiety increased as each second passed. "Erin, please. Tell me what's going on."

"She said things. Terrible things. I've been so horrible to her. I had no idea that's how she felt. I'm so sorry."

He realized that Kara must have finally revealed her feelings about her mother's drinking to her mother. "Erin," he needed her to focus. "Where is Kara now?"

"I don't know. She left the car."

"She left the car? Erin, where are you?"

"We decided to go up to the cabin. I'm on North Road."

Knowing that the sun would soon be setting on them, Dave tried to keep the panic out of his voice. "Erin, you need to find her. Did you see which direction she went in?"

This was all of the information that his team needed to ascertain what was going on. JJ immediately got on the phone with Garcia and had her pull up the GPS on both Kara and Rachel's phones.

"Oh, God, no!" Erin said, "I've screwed up again! I wasn't watching her when she left. I don't know where she went."

"Honey, you have got to pull yourself together. She likely continued on the road in the direction you were going. Do you see her up ahead of you?"

"No," she succeeded in getting her emotions under control at David's insistence, and went into work mode. She could do this. She could get her daughter back. "I'm pulling back out onto the road now."

"Ok, I'm going to hang up and call Kara. Keep going the way you're going and I'll call you back in ten minutes."

He hung up and JJ informed him that Garcia placed them both on the same road, going in the same direction. It relieved Dave somewhat, knowing that they would be meeting up soon. North Road was an old, windy, country road which saw little traffic, even on a Friday evening. It was unlikely that they would find more trouble than they had already put themselves in. Still, he wasted no time in dialing Kara's number. She answered him on the first ring.

"Hi, Dave. I guess you've talked to Mom?"

"Sweetheart, I want you to stop walking now. Your mother is on her way to you. She should be there soon."

Kara stopped. "OK," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Kara, I don't know what you said, but if it was the truth, then you have nothing to be sorry about. My guess is that your delivery could use a little work, but maybe take this opportunity to be really honest with your mom."

"I don't want to hurt her. And I don't want to set her back."

"She will likely be hurt, but stop running from her and give the two of you a chance to work through some of your feelings. It will be better in the long run, I promise."

"OK. I'll try. I'm sorry we upset your night. Are you doing ok?"

Dave smiled on the other side of the phone. "Yeah, honey, I'm fine."

"My mom's pulling up now."

"Ok, get in and hand her the phone." Kara did.

"David?" Erin asked.

"Ok, you got your baby back. Now make your way up to the cabin and talk to her. Don't let her escape again. You can do this. I love you."

"Thank you, David. I love you, too," and they hung up

David slunk down in his seat and accepted the scotch that Hotch handed him, exhaling as his did.

"You doing ok there, Rossi?" Morgan asked.

Dave smirked at him and sipped his drink.

"Seriously, Dave," Aaron said, "if you need to go back home, we can take care of the case."

"They don't need me there."

JJ said, "Are you sure about that? I bet they both want you."

"Oh, I'm sure they want me there," he said. "They want me to be a buffer no doubt. But they don't need me. They need to talk, just the two of them, and settle some of these thing once and for all."

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Erin and Kara were in their pajamas, curled up on opposite ends of the couch, eating Chinese food, and trying not to look at each other. They were both exhausted from their ordeal, and wanted the awkwardness of the situation to dissipate. Erin took the lead by placing her plate on the coffee table and looking at her daughter. She was in so much pain, but then they both were.

"Kara, I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through." Kara discarded her plate and put her face into her hands. "I realize now that I don't really know what it was like for you when I was drinking. You're right, I was so wrapped up in myself, that I didn't consider you as much as I should have." She wanted to place a comforting hand on Kara, but was afraid it would not be welcomed, so she continued talking, hoping she was saying the right things. "I fooled myself into thinking that you were better off with your father. That you were happy with him. That you didn't need me. I was in denial about so many things, especially what I was putting you through. If I could take that whole time period back, I would in a second. But I can't, Kara," she moved closer on the couch towards her daughter, "all I can do is promise to be her for you now. To take care of you and to work on our relationship."

Kara met her mother halfway across the couch and allowed herself to be held. "I'm so scared, Mom."

"What, honey?" Erin smoothed Kara's hair. "What are you scared of?"

Kara thought about Dave's advice and decided that this was the time to take it. "I'm so afraid you are going to drink again. That this sobriety is only temporary."

"Oh, baby, no!"

"Yes, mom. Relapse is so common with alcoholism. I looked into it. Almost all alcoholics relapse at some point."

She kissed her daughter's head and continued holding her. "Honey, I don't really know how to explain this to you so you will understand, but I don't think that's going to happen to me. I have my sponsor who I talk to regularly, and . . . I don't know, my life is just different now."

"You can't guarantee that."

"No, you're right, I can't. So maybe you would feel better if we had some sort of a plan for what was going to happen if I did relapse. Would that help you?"

"Yeah, maybe." Kara was starting to feel better and sat up a little to look at her mother.

"We've never talked about this. I took that to mean that you were ok with everything, not that you were burying all of your feelings. I should have known. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Mom. I should have told you."

"Instead of stealing!" Erin's voice rose slightly, but there was humor in it.

"Im sorry about that, too," Kara's eyes went down to her lap.

"Ok, let's stop apologizing to each other and make a deal." This brought Kara's eyes back to her mother's. "I won't drink and you won't steal."

Kara smile, "Deal! Besides, Dave kind of scared me out of that already."

"What did he say that got your attention?"

"That there were cameras on me all the time. I never really thought about that."

"Mmmm . . . big brother is always watching." Erin started twisting at a ring on her right hand.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked.

"I want you to have this," she succeeded in removing the jewelry and reached for her daughter's hand.

"What? Why?" Kara asked as her mother slipped the pearl onto her finger.

"This will seal my promise to you that I will put your need for my sobriety in front of my need to drink. This was your grandmother's. Her sister had a matching one which is in my jewelry box at home. When we get there, you can put that one on my finger as your promise to me to always put my need for a law-abiding child above your need to steal." She looked critically at the piece on her daughter's finger. "Beautiful! What do you think?" Her gaze drifted to her daughter's eyes and the answer was conveyed before Kara could even say it.

"Perfect!"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I only own Kara.**

Kara tiptoed down the staircase of the cabin in the dark of the night. She and her mother had decided to take a few days away from work and school to reconnect. Erin was able to accomplish some work tasks from home, and Kara kept up with her studies and paperwork. They had gone to the therapist on Monday, and bought some groceries, but other than that had remained cabin bound. Dave had been out of town with the team for that whole time, but Kara suspected, from the noises she was hearing from the floor below, that he had arrived home. She knew the case had been difficult from the lack of calls he made to her and the shortness of his texts. When things were arduous at work, he distanced himself from her. She knew it was his protectiveness that forced him to behave in this way, and she appreciated that, but hated to know he was struggling with the horrors of life. Of course, he kept up his calls with her mother, both professionally and personally.

Now, as she rounded the corner into the living room, she saw him sitting in the dark in his favorite chair with what looked like a double pour of scotch. His head was back and his eyes were closed, and Kara stepped into the room and took in the sight.

"I can hear you, ya know," he said without opening his eyes.

"Really? I was trying to be stealth-like." She moved further into the room.

"You're no challenge for my keen senses," his eyes opened and his head tilted forward as he took in the sight of her. "What are you doing up so late?"

One of her shoulders shrugged, "Why are you sitting in the dark drinking? Wait, no let me guess." He raised an eyebrow at her and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I know it was a bad case because your texts kept getting shorter and shorter. When you have a bad case, you usually have a scotch at the office before heading home. So if you're have a double here, then you probably already had one at work, but it wasn't enough to do the trick." His eyes closed again and his head dropped back as she continued, "You didn't want to be impaired while driving all the way up here, so as soon as you got home, you moved to the darkened cavern of your cabin to drown your sorrows. How did I do?"

"Not bad, kiddo. Not bad at all. Except I came right home after getting off the jet. I didn't want to be too relaxed when I navigated these roads."

"I'm sorry your case was bad. Do you want to tell me about it?"

He smiled, "No, sweetheart."

"Why? Do you think I'm not strong enough to handle it," she tried not to sound whiny but was quite sure that she had failed.

Eyes still closed, he kicked the ottoman towards her as an invitation to sit and reached out for her hand. When she moved forward and gave it, he said, "My job is to protect you from the bad parts of life, not introduce you to them." He felt her ring with his fingers and opened one eye to inspect. "Nice."

Kara pulled her hand back and examined the ring for herself. "Yeah, mom told you?"

"She did. Sounds like you did a good job, kiddo." He opened both eyes and found hers. "I'm proud of you."

Kara beamed in spite of herself, "Thanks. I guess it was ok. Things have been fine since then. But I have a feeling we've been up here all week so she can keep an eye on me."

"Well, you can't really blame her for that. You tend to find trouble. I have a couple of days off, so let's head back home after that."

"I kind of have to be at class tomorrow. That project is being presented."

"Take your mother's car and then come back."

She stood and walked away from him, "Why don't you and mom stay up here and I'll stay at the house? That way I can get all caught up of my studies -"

"You can do that here."

"- and you and mom can have some time alone," she turned back to face him.

He studied her and took a long pull on his drink so she continued, "You have to start trusting me again at some point."

"It's ok with me, but if your mother objects you're on your own. I don't think I'll have the energy to fight her." He stood and pointed a finger at her. "Just don't screw up."

She followed him into the kitchen and watched him pour the little that was left of his drink down the sink, "Why did you do that?"

"I didn't want any more," he said, turning towards her. "Besides, it makes you nervous when I drink, doesn't it?"

She was sometimes annoyed that he could read her so well. "No." When he looked at her disbelievingly, she continued, "I just worry about my mom. Don't you think it will bother her?"

He walked towards her, draped an arm across her shoulder, and kissed the top of her head. "It doesn't. She and I have talked about this before and she is fine with it."

"OK," she pulled away and distanced herself from him again, "but what if I did screw up?"

"Wait, what are we talking about now?" His tiredness was creeping up on him and he longed to wrap his arms around his wife. This penchant she had developed for late night chats was wearing on him. But at the same time, they tended to reveal some of her inner demons.

"You said for me not to screw up when I'm home alone. What if I do?" She was watching him intently for any signs of deceit which she anticipated trickling into his voice.

He ran a hand across his face trying to determine what response would get him to his wife the quickest, but would also provide what she was looking for, as there was clearly an agenda in her question. Knowing this topic would likely be revisited in the near future, he found the perfect answer to appease her momentarily, "You won't."

Kara took the hint. This was a beaten down man in front of her and, while she was confident that he would stay up all night talking to her, he didn't want to. She smiled, walked over to him, kissed his cheek and said, "Good night," leaving him in the darkened kitchen wondering when his home life had become so complicated and what the heck he used to do with his time.

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The morning light gleamed through the skylight and crossed his eyes. Willing it to go away before he became completely conscious, Dave pulled the comforter over his head far enough to block it. He desperately wanted sleep to return, but slid his hand to the opposite side of the bed and realized his wife was gone. Sleep overtook him before the urge to investigate entered his mind.

The next time he woke it was to the sound of his beloved returning to the bed, doing her best to curl up next to him without his waking. When his arm reached out to wrap around her waist, she knew she had failed. She sighed contentedly and pulled him tighter around herself.

"Did your chickadee leave the nest?" he asked.

"Yes. She is going to stay at the house for a couple of days. She said you already ok'd it."

"Hmmm mmmm," he refused to open his eyes. "I wasn't sure you would let her."

"Well, I told her I would take the leash off for a bit, but if she found any more trouble I was buying a choke chain. She rolled her eyes at that one."

"I bet she did."

"But, really, I have to let her go. She isn't a child."

"Or a dog."

"Cute. Hey, did you hear what I said?"

"Hmmm?"

"We are alone for a couple of days," she turned to face him.

"Well, when you put it that way," David said and covered her body with his.


	8. Chapter 8

Kara was stretched out on a lounge chair on the patio playing with her phone when Rachel emerged from the house with a bottle of whiskey in her hand.

"This is all I could find. Should we?" she asked.

"No, crazy, Dave will know if any is missing." Kara said.

"Well, then let's get out of here. There is a party I heard about. Let's get done up and go there."

Kara shifted on the lounge chair so she was looking fully at her best friend. "Really? After what happened last time, you want to go to another party?"

"Kara," Rachel sat in a chair, "we can't hide in the house for the rest of our lives. The party in on campus, in the dorms. You know that guy, Jacob?" when Kara nodded, she continued, "it's in his room. No one will hurt us and we can relax and have some fun. Come on. Let's go get ready." she pulled Kara from her seat.

"OK, stop pulling. I'm coming. But we are staying out of trouble." They raced up the stairs.

A couple of hours later, they walked into the overcrowded dorm room and greeted their friends. Rachel walked right to the keg hiding in the corner and poured a beer into a red cup. She turned and handed it to Kara. The conversation played out completely through their eyes. Kara's said that she didn't want any and Rachel's said that one wouldn't be a problem. Rachel won this silent argument, and Kara accepted the beer as Rachel turned to retrieve one for herself.

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David was getting ready to return to the real world after several relaxing days at the cabin. He and Erin had done nothing but enjoy each other's company in the confines of their retreat. They had been in touch with Kara, probably more frequently than Kara's liking, and were always assured that she was fine. But work called and they had to depart to the city.

He could hear Erin on the phone down on the first level, and by the tone of her voice, he guessed she was talking to someone at work. He paid little attention until her volume elevated as he descended the staircase.

"Your relationship with your daughter is not my responsibility . . . she is an adult, I don't monitor her phone calls . . . I let you know when she was attacked a couple of months ago because it was an emergency. It's not my job to tell you everything about her life. . . I didn't know she was ignoring your calls. . . Fine, I will tell her that you want her to call you, but that is it." she disconnected the call and took a couple of deep breaths before turning to notice David in the doorway of the kitchen. "Well," she said, "I guess our little vacation is over." She walked towards him handing him a travel mug of coffee and then gathered her things to wait in the car while he locked up the cabin.

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Kara sat in the semi darkness of the kitchen nursing a cup of tea and rereading weeks' worth of texts from her father. There was a dull ache in her head, likely from the beer that she let Rachel talk her into drinking the previous night. She did have a good time, it had been nice to relax with friends, but she should have stopped at one like she had planned. Unfortunately, the headache wasn't the only pain that she had encountered this morning-after. She had awoken to a new round of malicious texts from her father.

She had attempted to call her father a couple of months ago, but when he took his time getting back to her, she stopped answering his calls. It had been immature of her for sure, but she hadn't cared. There had been so many times in her past when her dad had let her down and she had grown tired of it. Since then, he had been sending her texts which she also ignored. The texts alternated between begging her to get him touch with him because he loved and missed her so much, and angrily ranting at her for being a selfish, ungrateful bitch. She saved all of them, not knowing why, but the mean ones were the ones that she kept coming back to. This morning's had been the worst so far and a tear slid down her face as she read it again.

The vibration of the phone in her hand startled her and a bit of the tea sloshed out of its cup as a new text came through. Anticipating it coming from her father, Kara let out a sigh of relief and then took a calming deep breath as she saw it was from her mother. _David and I will be home for dinner. Your father wants you to call him. Love you._

She contemplated the text for a few moments. Now her father was playing dirty, reaching out to her mother. No one knew about the texts or about how her dad treated her when her mom was away. She had kept those secrets close. Not even her Dr. Gorham had unlocked that door. A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she thought about how keeping things close had not helped her much in the past.

 _Luv u 2_ was all she could say as she wiped at her face and exited the kitchen to start her day.

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Kara came home from a quick three mile run to a still empty house. She used the run to clear her head, and to avoid the initial arrival of her parents. While at the sink in the kitchen guzzling a glass of water, she heard a car approaching. Sneaking a peek out the window and seeing her mother's approach, she abandoned the glass and raced up the stairs to turn on the shower.

She slowly moved her way through her shower, none too eager to go downstairs and face her parents. Of course, there was no way they would know about the alcohol she had imbibed in, but she was sure that she would exude guilt as soon as she approached them. Then there was the situation with her father that she hoped to keep from them forever, especially now that he was on the other side of the country. There would be no reason for them to ever find out about her relationship, or lack thereof, with him. But how much would they press now that her mother has seemingly spoken to him? What did he tell her and what would she ask of Kara? The water cooled, and Kara stepped out of the shower.

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Down in the kitchen, Erin was placing burgers on a platter for David to cook on the grill. He descended the stairs and enter the kitchen after having changed into more comfortable clothes.

"Any Kara sighting up there?" she asked.

"No. But I heard the shower turn off, so it can't be long now."

She handed him the plate of meat and followed him to the patio. "The place seems to be in order after her days here alone."

"You say that like you expected it not to be," David said.

"I just worry. I think she is basically a good kid, right?"

He turned to her after tossing the hamburgers on the fire and placed a kiss on her head. "She is." Leaving the empty platter on the table, Dave went about lighting his cigar as he watched over the dinner.

Erin, having remained in her spot added, "He called again. He's coming here."

Turning abruptly to face her David said, "Roger?"

"Yes," she said, not at all thrilled about her ex husband coming back to town.

David laughed, "Well, that should be interesting," and took his first drag on the cigar.

Relieved that the words were finally out of her mouth, Erin picked up the platter and returned to the kitchen to continue dinner preparations and await her daughter's appearance.

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"Hey, Mom," Kara entered the kitchen and walked to her mother to place a kiss on her cheek.

Erin was finishing the salad preparations and turned towards her daughter. "Hi, honey. How was your time home alone?"

"It was fine. Rachel was here most of the time." Kara shoved a carrot into her mouth to prevent further, unnecessary information from spilling out of it.

"Good. I'm glad you had some company. Grab the plates and meet us on the patio. The burgers should be done."

Kara could not have told what the dinner conversation consisted of, she only knew that at some point her mother announced, "Your father is coming for a visit." Although most of her meal had been consumed, not another bite would have been able to find its way into her mouth as her heart fell into her stomach and her fork fell to the plate. The clang brought up the attention and heads of both of the parents in front of her.

"Is this a problem?"

"Why is he coming?"

"Well, you don't answer his calls or even his texts. He says he hasn't heard your voice in months. He probably wants to make sure that I'm not keeping you chained up in the basement or something."

Kara reached for her glass of ice tea in a feeble attempt at distracting herself for a moment. She was keenly aware of Dave's eyes boring a hole in her and refused to meet them, or even her mother's. The anxiety was taking over and she needed to find a quick exit. For now, the coolness of the drink on the back of her throat was doing its job. After a couple of sips, and a deep, calming breath, which she hoped was not too obvious to the rest of the table, she continued, "Did you tell him about . . . you know . . ."

"Your stealing habit?" Erin asked, the harsh phrasing of which brought Kara's eyes immediately up to meet her mother's.

"Please don't call it a habit. I've stopped. But yes, does he know?"

"No, you're not a minor any more and it's not my story to tell. It's yours."

"When will he be here?"

"Tomorrow night."

"He's not staying here is he?"

"No!" David finally spoke.

"He is getting a hotel room but is planning on picking you up for dinner at 6."

"OK," Kara said and rose to start taking dished into the kitchen. There was no way she was going to dinner with him. And she had about twenty-four hours to figure out how to get out of it.

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"Wow," David said once his step daughter was out of earshot.

"Yeah, wow, Super Special Agent Rossi. Any insight into that?" Erin asked as she pushed her plate away and sipped her iced tea.

"Well, she clearly doesn't want to see him. Did you know she hadn't been talking to him?"

"Not until Roger called me this morning."

"She was trying to get in touch with him a couple of months ago, around the time that bastard held a gun to her head. I encouraged her to try again, but then never followed up on that with her. You don't know why she's mad at him?"

"No, they always got along just fine when she was younger. And then she stayed with him while I was in rehab. I guess I don't really know what happened then. She never mentioned anything. Soon after that, he moved away." Erin inhaled deeply and stood to gather the rest of the dishes. "Kind of makes me wish we were still at the cabin. Alone. I am not looking forward to this at all."

"Don't worry," Dave said reaching out for her hand. "I'll be here, for you and for Kara."


	9. Chapter 9

Kara listened to the night sounds of her parents preparing to end their day as her list of options continually ran through her head. She had narrowed her choices down to two: run, or come clean with her mother. As crazy as a twenty year old running away sounded, she could not get the latter alternative to make sense in her head. How could she possibly add more grief to her mother? Kara kept telling herself that she wanted to ease her mother's pain as much as she could and do whatever possible to prevent her from relapsing. The most recent conversations with her mother and Dave told her that the relapse fear was unwarranted. Even if it did happen, Kara was now certain that she would not need to go through things alone this time, and she would not need to go through them with her father, which was essentially the same as going through them alone. She felt secure with Dave, and with her mother. So maybe she should consider telling them everything.

Kara rose to her feet and started pacing the bedroom silently muttering a pep talk to herself. She was not a child. A child would run. She did not have to do that. She didn't want to see her father, and she wasn't going to see him. End of story. She was going to do the adult thing here. She was going to tell it like it was to her mom and Dave, and she was going to make it clear to anyone who wanted to know that she was not going to dinner with her father tomorrow night.

She was considering how and when to best approach her parents with the topic, when her cell phone beeped in a text message. A quick glance told her it was Rachel and she grabbed it to learn that there was another party tonight in the dorms and did she want to go. Maybe this was fate stepping in and telling her that she could run from her problem for a little bit longer. She wiped some lipstick across her lips and grabbed her bag to head down the stairs.

Lately nothing was easy in Kara's life, and she encountered her mother making tea in the kitchen on her way out. The decision was made quickly to be honest. "Hey, mom, I'm going out for a bit."

"Kara," Erin glanced at the clock, "it's after nine. Where are you going?"

"Just to the dorms to hang out for a bit," this was the truth. "It's not late in the dorms."

"That seems silly. Why don't you stay here?"

"Mom, please, I don't want to argue. I'm going to the dorms. I'm not a minor, remember? You said so yourself at dinner."

The anger was creeping into Erin's voice, "No, you're not a minor, but you have been through a lot lately and I'm not sure that going to a party on a random Wednesday night in the best decision."

"Who says I'm going to a party?" Kara's voice rose at the realization that her ability to be honest didn't last for very long. "And what do you mean I've "been through a lot lately?' 'Lately' like the last ten years?"

"Sure, Kara, the last ten years. Yes, you've been have a rough decade. We've all had a rough decade, and I don't think you should go out tonight. Your father is coming tomorrow and you are clearly upset about that so we should talk."

"Oh, so now things are 'clear' to you? Well, guess what, Mom, I don't want to talk about anything. But I'm glad that my feelings are so 'clear' to you," Kara's inner turmoil was catching up to her as her argument with her mother went on. Didn't she a mere ten minutes ago convince herself that she did want to talk to her mom about her father? Why were thing always so difficult for her to deal with? Why was she always running from her problems? She suddenly felt very removed from the situation and could almost swear that she was witnessing what was happening instead of participating in it. As she moved around her mother and went to exit the kitchen, she found herself blocked by the wall that was David Rossi. She paused for a moment, and then all hell broke lose.

She took both of her hands and used them to shove David in the chest. When he didn't budge, she threw all of her weight into it and shoved again. "Move! Move! Get out of my way! You can't stop me! I'm leaving! Move!" The shoves continued, and she was vaguely aware of her mother screaming for her to stop in the background. There were tears streaming down her cheeks as an awareness of what she was doing, literally pushing away the one person who had never let her down, crept into her consciousness. "Why won't you move? Or just hit me." Her impact increased as her hands, now fists, continued to pound his chest. "Hit me! You know that's what you want to do. Hit me!" Finally, she got him to react. He grabbed both of her fists and pulled her closer towards him, then wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She fought to get away but there was no chance of that happening and, when it became clear to her that he was in complete control, any resolve she had disappeared. Her sobs continued as one of his hands moved to the back of her head and she felt him kiss the top of it.

"I'm not going to hit you. It's ok now. You're ok. Shhhh." he whispered to her and stole a glance at his wife, who was also crying. "It's ok now." This last statement directed at Erin and she took it as a cue to step closer and join them.

Kara tried to sort out her feelings, but they were such a jumble. She felt her mother's closeness and Dave moved his hand from her head, seemingly to provide some comfort to Erin. Kara was surrounded by her parents and was comforted by them both being there, but the anguish continued. The shame at what she had done, and the fear of their reaction, plus the fear of her father, were all still there and she could not conjure up a solution to it any of it. She repeatedly muttered, "I'm sorry" through her sobs.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: I tried to spend a little more time on this chapter and not get overexcited and post too early. Let me know what you think. I reference the attack on Kara which happened in my first story. I only own Kara. Thank you.

Erin finished tucking a comforter from the upstairs linen closet around her only child who was sleeping on the couch, and, with a final kiss on her head, ventured towards the kitchen for her second attempt at a cup of tea. It had taken a while to calm Kara down. David offered her a shot of whiskey as a last resort. She threw it back like a pro but, if that action caused any concern it went unvoiced by both parents. She finally settled and sleep came quickly. David retreated to his office to make the appropriate calls announcing that the two of them would be absent from work for the next couple of days. Erin was planning on joining him in there with her tea to discuss their thoughts about Kara's breakdown and how they were going to tackle this latest challenge in their lives. She focused on her breathing as she waited for the water to boil, but was distracted by the buzz of Kara's phone which had been discarded on the counter at the beginning of her deluge of emotions on David.

Erin picked it up and saw that numerous texts had arrived from Rachel. Assuming that Rachel was waiting at the dorms for Kara, Erin sent a quick text back saying that Kara was suddenly not feeling well and would call her tomorrow. She waited for Rachel's confirmation of understanding and then stared at the phone for a moment. Maybe this would hold some answers to Kara's behavior. Did she really want to betray her daughter's trust and search the phone for information? There were always reports about the importance of parents keeping tabs on their children by searching their technology, but Kara wasn't a child. Would she be crossing a line with her daughter? A chasm could be opened in their relationship that might never be closed. On the other hand, Kara was in trouble. If there had been any doubt in her mind about that before, watching her attack David clarified it. Perhaps she could better help her child if she knew exactly what was bothering her.

The whistle of the teapot brought her out of her trance. She poured her beverage and, with phone in hand, moved down the hall to David's office. David ended his phone call when she entered.

"Was that Aaron?" when he nodded, she continued. "What did you tell him?"

"The truth," he said, then narrowed his eyes on her, "was that ok? I guess I should have checked with you first."

Erin shrugged and took a seat in the corner arm chair that Kara was so fond of. "It's fine. I hadn't really thought about what to tell people. I suppose the truth will work."

She tossed the phone to him. He recognized it as Kara's and said, "Did you go through this?"

Erin pulled her legs underneath herself and took a sip of her tea before responding, "No. I responded to a text from Rachel that Kara wouldn't be meeting her at the dorms. She kept texting, worried. But I thought about going through it. It might hold the answers we're looking for."

Facing her fully and leaning back in his chair, David said, "I think we already have some answers. And then there are some that we could probably get from you."

"Oh, now you're going to interrogate me?" she didn't mean for it to sound defensive. Afterall, they were trying to help Kara. She so quickly added, "Go ahead."

"Was Roger ever abusive towards you?"

"Of course not. You think I wouldn't have told you that? You think I would have put up with that?" She took another sip of her tea to try to keep her nerves from overwhelming her.

"What about with Kara? It certainly seems like he has hit her."

"Never. In all the time I was with him he never raised a hand to her. They always had a typical father/daughter relationship."

"Can we agree from what we just witnessed that he probably hit her at some point?"

"I really can't imagine him doing that." Erin didn't want to argue with her husband, but this was too important for her to simply go along for the sake of going along. She honestly could not imagine Roger, the man she had once loved, hurting their daughter.

"Does he have a short temper?"

"I guess. Being a corporate lawyer, he has a high stress job. He works long hours. He was always more absent than anything."

"Well, how did that work for Kara when she was little?" He was as uncomfortable asking these questions of Erin as she was in answering them. It seemed so awkward. This was his family he was asking about. Perhaps he should have taken Aaron up on the offer he made over the phone, and had him talk to Erin. But, then again, this was _his_ family, he would take care of them.

"We would try to work at finding time to do things as a family. I took care of the day to day stuff, and he swooped in for the bigger events. Probably pretty typical, actually."

"So when you left to go to rehab Kara was, what, fifteen?"

"Sixteen. And then she stayed with him after I came home. I never regained custody. When she graduated high school, she moved into the dorms."

"So who took care of the day to day stuff after you left?"

"Well, I guess he would have to, right?"

"I don't know," David said.

Erin was feeling herself lose control of her emotions, and as it had already been an emotional night, she wasn't sure if she could handle any more. After a few moments of her trying to regain control, well aware of David's eyes focused keenly on her, she said, "Is that it? Is that the piece we missed - I missed? She spent that time basically taking care of herself?"

"I don't know," David said again.

After a moment, David switched gears, "What's going on with Dr. Gorham?"

"Kara accepted her help for dealing with the anxiety but refuses to talk about the trauma of the gunman. I doubt she has talked about her father, but I really don't know."

"We need to encourage her to be more open in therapy. It will help all of this."

"I've tried. I can't make her talk," again Erin was sounding defensive, but she no longer had the strength to cover it. Her voice rose and tears were escaping, "I'm really not sure how to handle any of this."

David stood and reached a hand out to his wife. "Well. we will just have to wait until tomorrow for any more answers. At least we know where to begin thought. Do you have Roger's flight information?"

"No. He just said her would be here at 6." She wished there was more time for her to unravel the issues her daughter was having.

"It's late, let's head up to bed and figure everything else out tomorrow."

"All right," she placed her half empty cup on his desk and took his hand in hopes of gaining strength from him, "I just want to check on Kara before we go up."

"We'll both check on her," David said, and they left the room together.


	11. Chapter 11

Kara woke and sensed the early hour by the dimness of light traveling through the living room. She adjusted herself slightly on the oversized couch and pulled the comforter up under her chin to discourage the chill in the air. The memory of the previous night slammed into her consciousness and caused a knot to form in her stomach. She was horrified by her behavior and fearful as to what would happen next. Her hand reached up and pulled the elastic from her ponytail in hopes of relieving the tension she felt in her head. While trying to contemplate her next move, either falling back to sleep or devising a plan, she noticed her cell phone was sitting on the coffee table. With no recollection of putting it there, she mustered all of her energy and reached for it, noticing the aches in her body along the way. A quick scan showed her that her mother had texted Rachel back last night, and she wondered what else her mother had seen. The only thing incriminating on the phone were the texts from her father, and at this point, who cared if her mother saw that? Maybe it would be easier for her if she had; at least she wouldn't have to vocalize what had been happening for the past few months. She decided to focus her thoughts on her father, noting the irony of that topic being easier to deal with than the topic of beating up David Rossi last night.

When she was a little girl, she couldn't get enough of her dad. It seemed like he was always at work, but when he was around, he was nice. He spoke sweetly to her and bought her anything she wanted. She was closer to her mom at the time, simply because Erin worked her schedule around Kara's as much as possible, but she always wanted her dad. It was the same sort of feeling she had about Santa Claus. When she became a teenager, her parents divorced and she lived with her mother. That is also when her mother's drinking increased significantly. Kara wanted her dad more than ever, but at the same time she was always trying to cover for Erin around him. She fantasized about her parents getting back together and didn't see that happening if he knew about the alcohol. When Erin finally reached bottom and checked into rehab, it was a shock to Roger. It had all come about so suddenly. Kara's belongings were packed up and shipped to Roger's condo. Then her life went from bad to worse.

Kara was a huge inconvenience to Roger. His job was still as demanding as it had ever been, and now there was a teenager who expected things like meals, and trendy clothes, and attention. He made up for his long hours and lack of interest by giving her a credit card. Gradually, her mere presence, and that of all her stuff, angered him. He expected her academics and behavior to be perfect so they did not in any way impede upon his life. And when he wanted to show her off, he expected her to be available. It didn't take long for Kara to realize that she could not live up to Roger's unbelievable expectations. They fought more and more as time went on, and on a couple of those occasions, things became physical. Kara reminded her father too much of his nagging ex-wife and his anger at Erin for putting him in this position spilled onto Kara. She knew he hated her and he blamed her for everything, but she wanted his approval and his love.

Things got a little easier for Kara when her mom came home. At least the fighting with her dad stopped as she was getting all the things she needed, like cooked meals and love, at her mom's house, and then went back to her father's for the night. He had retained custody at Erin's request as she was still new to sobriety and was trying to take things slowly. It was also at this time that she started dating David. This arrangement worked out fine for Kara, except that she still longed for the affection that she remembered her father bestowing on her when she was little. Soon after she graduated from high school, he moved to the west coast for a new job and, Kara suspected, a new love. Kara moved back in with her newly married mom and, with the exception of a brief stint living in the dorms, had been there ever since.

This latest round of discord started a few months ago when she had been witnessed a drug induced death at a party. She wanted the comfort of her father at that time. Actually, she wanted the comfort of a typical father. Her father had never been the comforting sort, but a girl could dream. When he did not respond to her calls and text, she gave up. She had to face the reality that her father would never give her what she needed. Of course, when the calls stop coming through on Roger's end, he was annoyed about not being wanted, so he started calling her. Her lack of response fueled his fire and he became angrier and angrier at her blatant disrespect.

Kara was pulled from her reverie by a hand on her shoulder and she flinched involuntarily. The hand immediately pulled back and Kara's head went down when she saw that it was David. "What are you thinking about there?" he asked as he took a seat on the coffee table in front of her.

Answering with the truth did not appeal to her, and even though he accepted an apology last night, she couldn't face him without giving another. "I'm sorry," was all she could get past the knot in her throat.

"You said that last night, and I accepted. Don't keep apologizing for it, it is ok," he said.

She reached for the glass of water he was handing her and relished in its coolness as it traveled down her throat, dislodging the lump. After a few more sips, she felt she could continue, "I don't really see how it can ever be ok again."

"Because I say it can. End of story, we are moving past that," Dave was a difficult man to argue with, especially in the current state she was in, so she let it go for the time being. "Now what were you really thinking about?"

"Where's my mom?"

"You know, in my line of work, we call that deflecting."

"I know. Do me a favor, let me deflect for a minute." She sometime felt like she had no control of the sarcasm that oozed from her voice.

"She's in the shower."

"Does she know you came down here to have the first crack at me?"

"Do I strike you as the kind of man that would even think about getting between a Mama bear and her baby cub?"

"So I guess your ban on my alcohol consumption is lifted?" she was willing to say anything to prolong the inevitable discussion.

"Nice try, but no. Last night there were extenuating circumstances. The bans back on."

"I'll be twenty-one is a couple of months," she said.

"OK, enough of this. We need to talk."

"Did you and mom go through my phone last night?" she asked.

"No," when she gave him a disbelieving look he added, "Have I ever lied to you?"

She certainly couldn't argue with that, "No." Her next words were thought out carefully and accompanied by an increasing heartbeat and a glance to her lap. "Maybe it would have been easier if you had."

"Maybe I didn't need to."

This brought her eyes up to meet his, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your father's not the type of person to take your ignoring him lightly, so he has probably sent you some pretty nasty texts if he is now at the point of coming out here. I don't need to see your phone to know that."

"You never liked my dad, did you?" Kara still wished her father was a good guy, and David's aversion to him would further prove that he was not.

David knew he had to tread lightly here, "It's hard to like the guy who's married to the woman you love."

Kara cocked her head, "You loved my mom way back then?" The romantic in her couldn't help but love this tid bit of information. Plus, she could not get over the way he was blushing.

"Yes, but we are getting way off topic now," his discomfort caused him to stand and walk towards the other end of the room. Kara giggled and sat up more on the couch, tossing the comforter aside.

"I had no idea! Did mom love you back then too?"

"I don't know," he said, clearly exasperated. "You would have to ask her."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I will. This is great! So scandalous!"

Erin, dressed casually for her day off, took this moment to enter the room. "There's an awful lot of laughter in here. What's going on?"

David quit, "I'm going to make coffee. You're daughter is impossible." He could not get out of the room fast enough, leaving a laughing Kara behind.

"What did you do to him?" Erin was incredulous. "David Rossi is never flustered."

Kara enjoyed the reprieve from the feelings of sorrow and laughed until she cried.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: I only own Kara. Thank you for the reviews and enjoy!

Kara went to shower and change. Spending the night on the couch in her clothes left her feeling achy and dingy. Erin went in search of her husband and found him still in the kitchen, looking out the back window and sipping his coffee. She slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He turned into her and greeted her with a deep kiss.

"That girl of yours is something," he said when they separated.

"She certainly got you unnerved,"she said.

"Mmmmm . . . what did you tell her?"

"The truth, of course," her back was to him as she reached for her own cup of coffee.

Incredulous and raising an eyebrow he said, "Really?"

She turned and smiled, "Yes, really. I told her some things are just not her business. She doesn't need to know everything. That's the truth."

Clearly relieved he said, "Oh, good. We can still have some secrets?"

"Of course, love." She stood across from where he had sat at the counter.

"Well, it was nice to hear her laugh, even if it was at my expense. Now can we talk about something serious?"

"No. Not yet. Let's talk some more about how cute you are when you blush," her smile radiated and it was difficult for him to ignore. He stood and rounded the counter to kiss her some more. When his hands started to wander, she tried to pull back.

"You cannot take me on the kitchen counter," she said as he started kissing her neck.

He disconnected for a moment to whisper, "The hell I can't," before he continued his adoration. They had both been too physically and emotionally drained last night to do anything more than drop into slumber.

Erin enjoyed it for another minute before she pushed back a little more forcefully. "Let me put it another way: I won't let you take me on the counter."

He closed her mouth with his for one more crushing kiss before he finally pulled back. With a playful slap to her ass he walked back to his original post on the other side of the counter. "You started it," he said and took a long drink from his coffee in an effort to slow his beating pulse.

"I know," Erin mused as she attempted to straighten her hair, "I'll let you finish it tonight."

"Well, that's good because I wasn't going to let you have much of a say in the matter," his love and desire for her was never quenched.

"Alright, I guess we need to get serious now," Erin said having thwarted this conversation long enough. "But don't tell me that you think he has hit her because I don't want to talk about that."

"One, I don't think he hit her, I know he did -"

Erin eyes widened at this proclamation, "Did she tell you something?"

David shook his head and continued talking, "Two, why is Roger coming here?"

"What do you mean? He is coming here to see Kara."

"But why? Why does he want to see her now?"

Erin did not like the direction this conversation was taking and was desperate to find an answer that would satisfy her overly suspicious husband. "He misses her."

"No, he doesn't."

"He's worried about her."

"No, he's not."

"He's mad at her."

"Bingo!"

"Bingo? So, he's coming here because he's mad at her? David, I don't get what you're trying to tell me."

"He's not coming here. He's mad at her."

Erin's stomach dropped and she felt anger and confusion mixing together. "He said he is coming here. Why are you saying that he's not?"

"Because it doesn't make any sense. He is mad at her for not responding to him the way he feels she should have. He wants to punish her. He can't come here and yell at her, or punish her, or hit her because we won't let him. And he can't do any of those things in a restaurant because that would make him look bad. God forbid he look bad! What is the ultimate punishment?"

Erin's head was spinning, "I don't know," she whispered.

David hated the hurt this was going to cause her and Kara, but it was better that he figure it out now then he wait and let it play out before them. "Withdrawal of love."

"Noooo," Erin's pain was heard in her voice and displayed on her face. David approached her and held her.

"He is going to get her all hyped up with excitement, or fear, or whatever feeling she has, and then abandon her again. He is trying to teach her that he will have the last say about their relationship, not her."

"How can he be so cruel? I swear he wasn't like that when I married him." She pulled back from and grabbed a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"Maybe he wasn't cruel when you met him, but he was always a prick." David couldn't help himself, he never liked Roger.

"What do we do now? What if you're wrong? You could be wrong."

"I'm going to go call Penelope and see if she can find any airline or hotel information on Roger. If he is coming in today or not, she will know."

"What do I do?"

"Stay here. Wait for Kara and wait for me. If I'm right, we will tell her together," he kissed and hurried to his office.

CMCMCMCMCM

Erin busied herself in the kitchen while she waited to see what fresh hell would be dumped into her lap. She thought about cooking a big breakfast to occupy her time, but figured no one would want it and it would be thrown in the trash. She settled for making more coffee.

Kara, finally, walked into the room looking fresh faced with jeans, a sweatshirt, and a ponytail. She accepted the coffee her mother handed her and said, "Where's Dave?"

"He had to make a phone call," Erin said, her eyes shying away from her daughter's.

Suspicious of her mother's tone, Kara said, "Is everything ok? I mean, everything other than the millions of things that are definitely not ok?"

"Kara, I have a question for you. And I want you to be honest with me."

Kara's shoulders slumped in anticipation and she took a sip from her mug.

Erin did not want to ask this question because she did not want to know the answer, even though she really already knew it. She took a breath, cognizant of the fact that it was her last breath before knowing the truth and asked, "Has your father ever hit you?"

Kara's mouth twitched and she said, "It's not a big deal."

"Oh, sweetheart!" Erin walked around the kitchen island and wrapped her daughter in a hug from behind. "It most certainly is a big deal."

Kara's feelings were mixed. She was relieved that she didn't have to hold onto this secret and that she would probably now get some comfort and sympathy for what she had been through. But she also felt selfish for burdening her mother with this information. She wanted to be stronger than she was.

"It wasn't a lot," she said, "and it wasn't that bad. Dad just would get impatient sometimes. He didn't like it when I talked back."

"Well, none of us like it when you talk back, but no one has the right to hit you," Erin said, still holding her child. "I'm so sorry he did that, and I'm so sorry I wasn't here to stop him. I won't ever let him hurt you again." She finally released Kara and turned her to see her face.

"I know, Mom," Kara said. She was curious about the fact that she wasn't crying. This moment had been imagined by her before, and in her fantasies, she was always crying.

Any further conversation in regards to this matter was stalled by the arrival of David entering through the doorway, a downward expression on his face. He looked at his wife first and conveyed his message with his eyes.

"You were right I take it?" Erin asked.

"Yes."

Kara looked between her two parents and asked, "What now?"

Erin took the lead, "Your father's not coming, honey."

Stunned, Kara was silent for a moment. She was torn between feeling relief and sorrow. "What?" she asked, "Why?"

"Because he's an ass," Dave had poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and could not keep his feelings to himself.

She took another moment to try to decipher how she felt about this latest development and then looked between both of her parents again, "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel?"

"Well, your father would like you to feel deflated, and chastened, and sorry for having ignored him for so long. I would like to feel relieved that you are free to go on and do with your life whatever you would like without worry of any retribution from him. You, my dear, are allowed to feel anything you'd like."

David was listening to all of this and while he was proud of his wife for her wise words, his own feelings had successfully culminated. "Well, I'll tell you what I feel," he placed his coffee cup in the sink, "anger," and started to walk from the kitchen.

"Stop!" Erin called, "Where are you going?"

"California," he said, not stopping at all.

Erin and Kara shared a wide-eyed look and then yelled in unison, "What?" as they scampered after him to his office.

Once they got there they saw David pressing buttons on his phone and then waiting impatiently for someone to answer. Erin said, "David what are you doing?"

He held a finger up to her and spoke into the phone, "Penelope? I need one round trip ticket to LAX. Leaving as soon as I can and coming home tomorrow."

"Make that two," Erin said.

"Make that three," Kara said.

David turned away from them and continued speaking into the phone, "No, you didn't hear anything, Penelope, it's still one ticket. Call me when you have details." He hung up the phone and, moving around the ladies he was trying to ignore, rushed up the stairs to pack. .

When Erin and Kara had reached the master suite, David was already throwing drawers open and resupplying his go bag. Kara threw herself onto the bed and Erin started in on her husband, "David, please stop. At least slow down and talk to me."

Never one to ignore his wife, he stopped and stood in front of her. "Erin, honey, it's ok. I'm just going to go out and have a little talk with Roger and tell him that what he did is deplorable and he doesn't deserve Kara and that when and if she ever wants to see him, she will contact him. Then I'll come home,"

"Wow," was all Kara could say from her perch on the bed. Any love she felt for Dave increased tenfold at that moment.

Dave looked at her and started to say something, but was distracted by the beep of his phone. He glanced down on it and beamed, "Perfect! She got me a flight, but I have to hurry." He rushed into the bathroom and could be heard rustling about. Tossing the last items into his bag, he turned to Kara, "Everything will be fine, sweetheart." He put her face in his hands and kissed her cheeks before looking into her eyes and solemnly saying, "I love you."

Not waiting for a response, he turned to his wife and, though kissing her more passionately, did the same thing. He yelled a final, "I'll call when I land," and left the room leaving both women stunned.

"Wow," Kara said again, looking at her mother.

"Yeah, wow," Erin shook herself out of her daze then and reached into her pocket for her phone.

Kara's, "What are you doing?" was ignored as she pressed the buttons.

"I hope David forgives me for this."


	13. Chapter 13

"Derek? It's Erin. I'm sorry to bother you, but I need a huge favor."

"Of course, Erin. Anything," It was rare that Erin asked for a personal favor. If Derek had taken a moment to think about it, he probably could not have remembered a single time. He had certainly been instrumental in assisting her in a rehab placement years ago, but she hadn't exactly requested that help.

"I need you to call Penelope and ask her to book you on the same flight she just booked David on. He left for the airport moments ago so you need to hurry."

Derek was grabbing his go bag and moving to leave as she spoke, "OK," was all she allowed him to say.

"I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to ask . . ."

"It's not a problem. Mind giving me a clue as to where we're going?"

"To LA. To stop David from ripping my ex to shreds."

"Say no more. I'm on my way."

Erin said, "Thank you," but suspected he had already ended the call.

Kara was still sitting on the bed in her parent's room watching her mother pace as she talked on the phone. "Don't you think we should be on that plane?" she asked when the call ended.

"No," her mother said.

"Really? I think we should."

"You don't need to witness David and you dad arguing and I'm not leaving you alone right now."

"What do you think is going to happen?" when her mother didn't answer, Kara continued, "you think something bad will happen. That's why you sent Agent Morgan to babysit."

"I sent Agent Morgan because I didn't want Dave . . . oh, who am I kidding? I don't know what's going to happen. That's why I called Agent Morgan. I'm sure David will fill us in on everything when he gets back. We just need to wait."

"You're worried," Kara said. Erin's pacing had not stopped. "Mom, don't lie to me."

That caused Erin to cease her movements and look at her daughter. "Honey, I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, I'm worried. But I feel better knowing David won't be alone. I'm not sure this was a good idea, but I trust my husband." She stepped closer to Kara and took a seat next to her on the bed. "I'm also worried about you. What are you feeling?"

"Numb, I guess," she said. "I'm still not sure what to feel. It's all very strange. Actually, it's all totally fucked up." Erin twitched at her daughter's curse but didn't correct her. "How did this get like this?"

Erin positioned herself more comfortably against the back of the bed and pulled her child down beside her. Sighing deeply she said, "Oh, honey, I've been asking myself that question a lot lately." Kara snuggled in next to her mother and listened. "Your father wasn't always like this. When I met him he was fun and happy and . . ." a smile spread across her lips in spite of herself.

When she didn't continue, Kara pressed, "When did it change?"

"I don't really know. You were young. He and I were both busy in our careers. I was trying to rise in the Bureau and be the happy homemaker. And give you what you needed. I guess something had to give. The happy homemaker seemed the logical thing to let go of. Your father would have preferred I give up the Bureau."

Kara let her eyes close but didn't want her mother to stop talking. "Was he jealous?"

"Probably. He started to become very insecure. Which I guess makes sense with how he's behaving now. Your actions," her voice rose suddenly as she realized the potential impact of what she was about to say, causing Kara's eyes to open, as she added, "although none of this is your fault." After pausing for impact, she continued, "but your actions probably made him self conscious about his abilities as a father. Maybe that's why he's throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

"But did you love David that whole time?" Kara was enjoying this more than she imagined she would. She could not ever remember having such an intimate conversation with her mother.

"No . . . I don't know . . . maybe. David and I always had a connection but the timing was never right. He was married, then I was married, then he was married again."

"And again," Kara couldn't help herself. She smiled sleepily and listened to the soft giggle beside her. "Do you worry about how often he's been married?"

"No. It took him a few times, but he finally got it right," she kissed the top of her daughter's head. "So did I." She closed her eyes and, moments later, they were both asleep.

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Derek was the last passenger to board the jet. He placed his go bag in the overhead compartment and slid into the first class seat next to his teammate in time for the flight attendant to take his drink order. Only then did he turn to his friend and watch him down the remains of what looked like a scotch.

"Hi," Derek said, giving his widest and cheesiest grin.

"I was wondering who was going to take that seat," David said.

"Disappointed?"

"Nah. Honestly, I'm relieved it isn't Erin. I did not want her to come but, as you know, she can be stubborn."

"I do know that. I also know that Erin Strauss never asks for help, so do you want to fill me in on what's going on?"

CMCMCMCMCM

Rossi approached the oversized contemporary house with Morgan waiting by the taxi and gave three knocks. He heard voices and footsteps approaching and deduced that his identity had been recognized.

When the door swung open he faced a surprised, yet angry Roger and glimpsed a woman disappearing further into the back of the house.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the FBI's finest agent. To what do I owe the pleasure, Rossi?" Roger asked, his distaste obvious as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Glancing at his Movado, Rossi said, "I think you're supposed to be on the other side of the country right about now."

"So you came to collect me?" Roger asked and peered around David's shoulder at Morgan leaning casually against the side of the cab. "Oh, and I see you brought some muscle with you."

"Nope. No muscle is needed today. I just came to tell you to stay away from my family."

"Your family? I believe they were mine first. And _my_ daughter will always be _mine._ "

"You've made your feelings for her clear. So, unless _she_ changes _her_ mind, you are to have no contact with her."

"Oh, really? Well, I think that credit card that she has no problem using and that college tuition might have a problem with that."

David laughed, "Believe me, she doesn't need your money. And you have nothing else to offer her. So leave her alone. Plus, you probably have enough to handle here with your girlfriend," he said indicating the interior of the house and alluding to the woman he saw.

"I'll tell you what, Rossi. You stay away from my family and I'll stay away from yours."

"Deal," David turned to walk away, "Oh, but one more thing Roger," he hesitated on the doorstep.

"Yeah, what's that?"

David turned and rammed a right hook into Roger's jaw feeling and hearing the crunch underneath his knuckles. "Never hit her again." As he turned to walk away, he almost bumped into Morgan who had come up behind him. "Let's go," he said to his friend.

"Not bad, Rossi," he said as they made their way to the car. "Not bad at all."

Author's Note: No Erin/Roger confrontation at this time - she really needed to stay with Kara. I'm ending this here, but another story is already started. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I only own Kara (and I guess Roger).


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